A man poses with his new goat

I’ve recently learned about a fascinating Nepalese company that is making the most of the NRN population (Non Resident Nepalese- those living outside of Nepal). Most NRN have family back home they want to take good care of and so the company, Thamel, provides a way to send gifts and transfer money from abroad to Nepal. Some gifts are VERY local, like these gifts for the Tihar festival. You can purchase an online puja, but I’m not sure what that means (puja is a Hindu ritual showing reverence). I’m not sure if they still offer this, but originally you could purchase a gift certificate for your family to pick up a goat at the local market. Thamel had $30,000 of goat revenue the first year they offered this service. Some gifts are more universal, like holidays at resorts and flat-screen TVs. A newly added service allows you to arrange for financing of a home, a car, or an education in Nepal.

Most of their customers are Nepalese living in the US, Canada, and the UK, but there is a significant untapped diaspora population in both Hong Kong and Japan. Purchase of the items on the Thamel website usually includes delivery, which is provided by each specific vendor in their network. This allows Thamel to avoid a developing world issue of distribution with poor infrastructure and allow locals to take care of it. Thamel has become quite a local brand through marketing strategies like offering a picture of your family member receiving their gift. This helps to build trust in their service, which can be a significant hurdle for a service that is totally new. In fact, gaining the trust of potential vendors was a challenge when they were first starting. It is easier now because locals can see Thamel vendors are getting 5-10% of their revenue through the e-commerce platform – a number that rises to 50% during holidays and festivals. Thamel is profitable, with $1.3 million in revenue in 2004. The World Resources Institute/ NextBillion.Net did a case study on them, where I got a lot of this information and these fantastic pictures.






Thamel utilizes several of the characteristics of developing markets laid forth in The 86% Solution, which I’ve paraphrased here:

• Remember those who have emigrated
• Tap into regional communities to build your brand
• Build your own infrastructure
• Take the market to the people